Thursday, November 2, 1710
—— Longa est Injuria, longæ
Ambages, sed summa sequar fastigia rerum.1
IT is a Practice I have generally followed, to converse in equal Freedom with the deserving Men of both Parties; and it was never without some Contempt, that I have observed Persons wholly out of Employment, affect to do otherwise: I doubted whether any Man could owe so much to the Side he was of, altho’ he were retained by it; but without some great Point of Interest, either in Possession or Prospect, I thought it was the Mark of a low and narrow Spirit.
It is hard, that for some Weeks past, I have been forced, in my own Defence, to follow a Proceeding that I have so much condemned in others. But several of my Acquaintance, among the declining Party,2 are grown so insufferably Peevish and Splenetick, profess such violent Apprehensions for the Publick, and represent the State of Things in such formidable Ideas, that I find myself disposed to Share in their Afflictions, although I know them to be groundless and imaginary; or, which is worse, purely affected. To offer them Comfort one by one, would be not only an endless, but a disobliging Task. Some of them, I am convinced, would be less melancholy, if there were more Occasion. I shall therefore, instead of hearkning to further Complaints, employ some Part of this Paper for the Future, in letting such Men see, that their natural or acquired Fears are ill-grounded, and their artificial Ones as ill-intended. That all our present Inconveniencies are the Consequence of the very Counsels they so much admire, which would still have encreased, if those had continued: And that neither our Constitution in Church or State, could probably have been long preserved, without such Methods as have been already taken.
THE late Revolutions at Court, have given Room to some specious Objections, which I have heard repeated by well-meaning Men, just as they had taken them up on the Credit of others, who have worse Designs. They wonder the Queen would chuse to change her Ministry at this Juncture, and thereby give Uneasiness to a General who hath been so long successful Abroad; and might think himself injured, if the entire Ministry were not of his own Nomination.3 That there were few Complaints of any Consequence against the late Men in Power, and none at all in Parliament; which on the Contrary, passed Votes in favour of the Chief Minister. That if her Majesty had a Mind to introduce the other Party, it would have been more seasonable after a Peace, which now we have made desperate, by spiriting the French, who rejoice at these Changes, and by the Fall of our Credit, which unqualifies us for continuing the War. That the Parliament, so untimely dissolved, had been diligent in their Supplies, and dutiful in their Behaviour. That, one Consequence of these Changes appears already in the Fall of the Stocks. That, we may soon expect more and worse: And lastly, That, all this naturally tends to break the Settlement of the Crown, and call over the Pretender.4
THESE and the like Notions are plentifully scattered abroad by the Malice of a ruined Party, to render the QUEEN and her Administration odious, and to inflame the Nation. And these are what, upon Occasion, I shall endeavour to overthrow, by discovering the Falshood and Absurdity of them.
IT is a great Unhappiness, when in a Government constituted like ours, it should be so brought about, that the Continuance of a War must be for the Interest of vast Numbers (Civil as well as Military) who otherwise would have been as unknown as their Original.5 I think our present Condition of Affairs, is admirably described by two Verses in Lucan.6
Hinc usura Vorax, avidumque in tempore fœnus,
Hinc concussa fides, & multis utile bellum.
Which, without any great Force upon the Words, may be thus translated.
Hence are derived those exorbitant Interests and Annuities; hence those large Discounts for Advances and prompt Payment; hence publick Credit is shaken; and hence great Numbers find their Profit in prolonging the War.
IT is odd, that among a free Trading People, as we call ourselves, there should so many be found to close in with those Counsels, who have been ever averse from all Overtures towards a Peace. But yet there is no great Mystery in the Matter. Let any Man observe the Equipages in this Town; he shall find the greater Number of those who make a Figure, to be a Species of Men quite different from any that were ever known before the Revolution; consisting either of Generals and Colonels, or of such whose whole Fortunes lie in Funds and Stocks: So that Power, which, according to the old Maxim, was used to follow Land, is now gone over to Money; and the Country Gentleman is in the Condition of a young Heir, out of whose Estate a Scrivener receives half the Rents for Interest, and hath a Mortgage on the Whole; and is therefore always ready to feed his Vices and Extravagancies while there is any Thing left. So that if the War continue some Years longer, a landed Man will be little better than a Farmer at a rack Rent, to the Army, and to the publick Funds.
IT may perhaps be worth inquiring from what Beginnings, and by what Steps we have been brought into this desperate Condition: And in search of this we must run up as high as the Revolution.7
MOST of the Nobility and Gentry who invited over the Prince of Orange, or attended him in his Expedition, were true Lovers of their Country and its Constitution, in Church and State; and were brought to yield to those Breaches in the Succession of the Crown, out of a Regard to the Necessity of the Kingdom, and the Safety of the People, which did, and could only, make them lawful; but without Intention of drawing such a Practice into Precedent, or making it a standing Measure by which to proceed in all Times to come; and therefore we find their Counsels ever tended to keep Things as much as possible in the old Course. But soon after, an under Sett of Men, who had nothing to lose, and had neither born the Burthen nor Heat of the Day, found means to whisper in the King’s Ear, that the Principles of Loyalty in the Church of England, were wholly inconsistent with the Revolution. Hence began the early Practice of caressing the Dissenters, reviling the Universities as Maintainers of Arbitrary Power, and reproaching the Clergy with the Doctrines of Divine-Right, Passive-Obedience, and Non-Resistance.8 At the same Time, in order to fasten wealthy People to the New Government, they proposed those pernicious Expedients of borrowing Money by vast Premiums, and at exorbitant Interest: A Practice as old as Eumenes, one of Alexander’s Captains, who setting up for himself after the Death of his Master, persuaded his principal Officers to lend him great Sums, after which they were forced to follow him for their own Security.9
THIS introduced a Number of new dextrous Men into Business and Credit: It was argued, that the War could not last above two or three Campaigns; and that it was easier for the Subject to raise a Fund for paying Interest, than to tax them annually to the full Expence of the War. Several Persons who had small or encumbred Estates, sold them, and turned their Money into those Funds to great Advantage: Merchants, as well as other monied Men, finding Trade was dangerous, pursued the same Method: But the War continuing, and growing more expensive, Taxes were encreased, and Funds multiplied every Year, ’till they have arrived at the monstrous Height we now behold them. And that which was at first a Corruption, is at last grown necessary, and what every good Subject must now fall in with, although he may be allowed to wish it might soon have an End; because it is with a Kingdom, as with a private Fortune, where every new Incumbrance adds a double Weight. By this Means the Wealth of a Nation, that used to be reckoned by the Value of Land, is now computed by the Rise and Fall of Stocks: And although the Foundation of Credit be still the same, and upon a Bottom that can never be shaken; and although all Interest be duly paid by the Publick, yet through the Contrivance and Cunning of Stock-Jobbers, there hath been brought in such a Complication of Knavery and Couzenage, such a Mystery of Iniquity, and such an unintelligible Jargon of Terms to involve it in, as were never known in any other Age or Country of the World. I have heard it affirmed by Persons skilled in these Calculations, that if the Funds appropriated to the Payment of Interest and Annuities, were added to the yearly Taxes, and the Four-Shilling Aid strictly exacted in all Counties of the Kingdom,10 it would very near, if not fully, supply the Occasions of the War, at least such a Part, as in the Opinion of very able Persons, had been at that Time prudent not to exceed. For I make it a Question, whether any wise Prince or State, in the Continuance of a War, which was not purely defensive, or immediately at his own Door, did ever propose that his Expence should perpetually exceed what he was able to impose annually upon his Subjects? Neither if the War last many Years longer, do I see how the next Generation will be able to begin another; which in the Course of human Affairs, and according to the various Interests and Ambition of Princes, may be as necessary for them as it hath been for us. And if our Fathers had left us as deeply involved as we are like to leave our Children, I appeal to any Man what sort of Figure we should have been able to make these twenty Years past.11 Besides, neither our Enemies, nor Allies, are upon the same Foot with us in this Particular. France and Holland, our nearest Neighbours, and the farthest engaged, will much sooner recover themselves after a War. The first, by the absolute Power of the Prince, who being Master of the Lives and Fortunes of his Subjects, will quickly find Expedients to pay his Debts: And so will the other, by their prudent Administration, the Greatness of their Trade, their wonderful Parsimony, the Willingness of their People to undergo all kind of Taxes, and their Justice in applotting as well as collecting them. But above all, we are to consider, that France and Holland fight in the Continent, either upon, or near their own Territories; and the greatest Part of the Money circulates among themselves; whereas ours crosses the Sea, either to Flanders, Spain, or Portugal; and every Penny of it, whether in Specie or Returns, is so much lost to the Nation for ever.
UPON these Considerations alone, it was the most prudent Course imaginable in the QUEEN, to lay hold of the Disposition of the People for changing the Parliament and Ministry at this Juncture; and extricating her self as soon as possible out of the Pupilage of those who found their Accounts only in perpetuating the War. Neither have we the least Reason to doubt, but the ensuing Parliament will assist her MAJESTY with the utmost Vigour, until her Enemies again be brought to sue for Peace, and again offer such Terms as will make it both honourable and lasting; only with this Difference, that the Ministry perhaps will not again refuse them.12
Audiet pugnas vitio parentum
Rara Juventus.13
Thursday, November 9, 1710
E quibus hi vacuas implent Sermonibus aures,
Hi narrata ferunt alio: mensuraque ficti
Crescit, & auditis aliquid novus adjicit autor,
Illic Credulitas, illic temerarius Error,
Vanaque Lætitia est, consternatique Timores,
Seditioque recens, dubioque autore susurri.1
I AM prevailed on, through the Importunity of Friends, to interrupt the Scheme I had begun in my last Paper, by an Essay upon the Art of Political Lying. We are told, The Devil is the Father of Lyes, and was a Lyar from the Beginning; so that, beyond Contradiction, the Invention is old: And, which is more, his first Essay of it was purely Political, employed in undermining the Authority of his Prince, and seducing a third Part of the Subjects from their Obedience. For which he was driven down from Heaven, where (as Milton expresseth it) he had been VICEROY of a great Western Province; and forced to exercise his Talent in inferior Regions among other fallen Spirits, or poor deluded Men, whom he still daily tempts to his own Sin, and will ever do so till he be chained in the bottomless Pit.2
BUT although the Devil be the Father of Lyes, he seems, like other great Inventors, to have lost much of his Reputation, by the continual Improvements that have been made upon him.
WHO first reduced Lying into an Art, and adapted it to Politicks, is not so clear from History; although I have made some diligent Enquiries: I shall therefore consider it only according to the modern System, as it hath been cultivated these twenty Years past in the Southern Part of our own Island.
THE Poets tell us, That after the Giants were overthrown by the Gods, the Earth in revenge produced her last Offspring, which was Fame.3 And the Fable is thus interpreted; That when Tumults and Seditions are quieted, Rumours and false Reports are plentifully spread through a Nation. So that by this Account, Lying is the last Relief of a routed, earth-born, rebellious Party in a State. But here, the Moderns have made great Additions, applying this Art to the gaining of Power, and preserving it, as well as revenging themselves after they have lost it: As the same Instruments are made use of by Animals to feed themselves when they are hungry, and bite those that tread upon them.
BUT the same Genealogy cannot always be admitted for Political Lying; I shall therefore desire to refine upon it, by adding some Circumstances of its Birth and Parents. A Political Lye is sometimes born out of a discarded Statesman’s Head, and thence delivered to be nursed and dandled by the Rabble. Sometimes it is produced a Monster, and licked into Shape; at other Times it comes into the World compleatly formed, and is spoiled in the licking. It is often born an Infant in the regular Way, and requires Time to mature it: And often it sees the Light in its full Growth, but dwindles away by Degrees. Sometimes it is of noble Birth; and sometimes the Spawn of a Stock-jobber. Here, it screams aloud at opening the Womb; and there, it is delivered with a Whisper. I know a Lye that now disturbs half the Kingdom with its Noise, which although too proud and great at present to own its Parents, I can remember in its Whisperhood. To conclude the Nativity of this Monster; when it comes into the World without a Sting, it is still-born; and whenever it loses its Sting, it dies.
No Wonder, if an Infant so miraculous in its Birth, should be destined for great Adventures: And accordingly we see it hath been the Guardian Spirit of a prevailing Party for almost twenty Years.4 It can conquer Kingdoms without Fighting, and sometimes with the Loss of a Battle: It gives and resumes Employments; can sink a Mountain to a Mole-hill, and raise a Mole-hill to a Mountain; hath presided for many Years at Committees of Elections; can wash a Black-a-moor white; make a Saint of an Atheist, and a Patriot of a Profligate; can furnish Foreign Ministers with Intelligence; and raise or let fall the Credit of the Nation. This Goddess flies with a huge Looking-glass in her Hands to dazzle the Crowd, and make them see, according as she turns it, their Ruin in their Interest, and their Interest in their Ruin. In this Glass you will behold your best Friends clad in Coats powdered with Flower-de-Luce’s and Triple Crowns; their Girdles hung round with Chains, and Beads, and wooden Shoes: And your worst Enemies adorned with the Ensigns of Liberty, Property, Indulgence, Moderation, and a Cornucopia in their Hands.5 Her large Wings, like those of a flying Fish, are of no Use but while they are moist; she therefore dips them in Mud, and soaring aloft scatters it in the Eyes of the Multitude, flying with great Swiftness; but at every Turn is forced to stoop in dirty Ways for new Supplies.
I HAVE been sometimes thinking, if a Man had the Art of the Second Sight for seeing Lyes, as they have in Scotland for seeing Spirits;6 how admirably he might entertain himself in this Town; to observe the different Shapes, Sizes, and Colours, of those Swarms of Lyes which buz about the Heads of some People, like Flies about a Horse’s Ears in Summer: Or those Legions hovering every Afternoon in Exchange-Alley, enough to darken the Air; or over a Club of discontented Grandees, and thence sent down in Cargoes to be scattered at Elections.7
THERE is one essential Point wherein a Political Lyar differs from others of the Faculty; That he ought to have but a short Memory, which is necessary according to the various Occasions he meets with every Hour, of differing from himself, and swearing to both Sides of a Contradiction, as he finds the Persons disposed, with whom he hath to deal. In describing the Virtues and Vices of Mankind, it is convenient, upon every Article, to have some eminent Person in our Eye, from whence we copy our Description. I have strictly observed this Rule; and my Imagination this Minute represents before me a certain Great Man famous for this Talent, to the constant Practice of which he owes his twenty Years Reputation of the most skilful Head in England for the Management of nice Affairs.8 The Superiority of his Genius consists in nothing else but an inexhaustible Fund of Political Lyes, which he plentifully distributes every Minute he speaks, and by an unparallelled Generosity forgets, and consequently contradicts the next half Hour. He never yet considered whether any Proposition were True or False, but whether it were convenient for the present Minute or Company to affirm or deny it; so that if you think to refine upon him, by interpreting every Thing he says, as we do Dreams, by the Contrary, you are still to seek, and will find your self equally deceived, whether you believe or no: The only Remedy is to suppose that you have heard some inarticulate Sounds, without any Meaning at all. And besides, that will take off the Horror you might be apt to conceive at the Oaths wherewith he perpetually Tags both Ends of every Proposition: Although at the same Time, I think, he cannot with any Justice be taxed for Perjury, when he invokes God and Christ; because he hath often fairly given publick Notice to the World, that he believes in neither.9
SOME People may think that such an Accomplishment as this, can be of no great Use to the Owner or his Party, after it hath been often practised and is become notorious; but they are widely mistaken: Few Lyes carry the Inventor’s Mark; and the most prostitute Enemy to Truth may spread a Thousand without being known for the Author. Besides, as the vilest Writer hath his Readers, so the greatest Lyar hath his Believers; and it often happens, that if a Lye be believed only for an Hour, it hath done its Work, and there is no farther Occasion for it. Falshood flies, and Truth comes limping after it; so that when Men come to be undeceived, it is too late, the Jest is over, and the Tale has had its Effect: Like a Man who has thought of a good Repartee, when the Discourse is changed, or the Company parted: Or, like a physician who hath found out an infallible Medicine after the Patient is dead.
CONSIDERING that natural Disposition in many Men to Lye, and in Multitudes to Believe; I have been perplexed what to do with that Maxim, so frequent in every Bodies Mouth, That Truth will at last prevail. Here, has this Island of ours, for the greatest Part of twenty Years lain under the Influence of such Counsels and Persons, whose Principle and Interest it was to corrupt our Manners, blind our Understandings, drain our Wealth, and in Time destroy our Constitution both in Church and State;10 and we at last were brought to the very Brink of Ruin; yet by the Means of perpetual Representations, have never been able to distinguish between our Enemies and Friends. We have seen a great Part of the Nation’s Money got into the Hands of those, who by their Birth, Education and Merit, could pretend no higher than to wear our Liveries. While others, who by their Credit, Quality and Fortune, were only able to give Reputation and Success to the Revolution, were not only laid aside, as dangerous and useless; but loaden with the Scandal of Jacobites, Men of Arbitrary Principles, and Pensioners to France; while Truth, who is said to lie in a Well, seemed now to be buried there under a heap of Stones. But I remember it was a usual Complaint among the Whigs, that the Bulk of Landed-men was not in their Interests, which some of the Wisest looked on as an ill Omen; and we saw it was with the utmost Difficulty that they could preserve a Majority, while the Court and Ministry were on their Side; till they had learned those admirable Expedients for deciding Elections, and influencing distant Boroughs, by powerful Motives from the City.11 But all this was mere Force and Constraint, however upheld by most dextrous Artifice and Management; until the People began to apprehend their Properties, their Religion, and the Monarchy itself in Danger; then we saw them greedily laying hold on the first Occasion to interpose. But of this mighty Change in the Dispositions of the People, I shall discourse more at large in some following Paper; wherein I shall endeavour to undeceive or discover those deluded or deluding Persons, who hope or pretend, it is only a short Madness in the Vulgar, from which they may soon recover. Whereas, I believe, it will appear to be very different in its Causes, its Symptoms, and its Consequences; and prove a great Example to illustrate the Maxim I lately mentioned, That Truth (however sometimes late) will at last prevail.
Thursday, December 21, 1710
—— Pugnacem scirent sapiente minorem.1
I AM very much at a Loss how to proceed upon the Subject intended in this Paper, which a new Incident hath led me to engage in: The Subject I mean, is that of Soldiers and the Army; but being a Matter wholly out of my Trade, I shall handle it in as cautious a Manner as I am able.
IT is certain, that the Art of War hath suffered great Changes, almost in every Age and Country of the World; however, there are some Maxims relating to it, that will be eternal Truths, and which every reasonable Man must allow.
IN the early Times of Greece and Rome, the Armies of those States were composed of their Citizens, who took no Pay, because the Quarrel was their own; and therefore the War was usually decided in one Campaign; or, if it lasted longer, yet in Winter the Soldiers returned to their several Callings, and were not distinguished from the rest of the People. The Gothick Governments in Europe, although they were of Military Institution, yet observed almost the same Method. I shall instance only in England. Those who held Lands in Capite of the King, were obliged to attend him in his Wars with a certain Number of Men, who all held Lands from them at easy Rents on that Condition. These fought without Pay; and when the Service was over, returned again to their Farms. It is recorded of William Rufus, that being absent in Normandy, and engaged in a War with his Brother, he ordered twenty thousand Men to be raised and sent over from hence to supply his Army; but having struck up a Peace before they were embarked, he gave them leave to disband, on Condition they would pay him ten Shillings a Man; which amounted to a mighty Sum in those Days.2
CONSIDER a Kingdom as a great Family, whereof the Prince is the Father; and it will appear plainly, that Mercenary Troops are only Servants armed, either to awe the Children at home; or else to defend from Invaders, the Family who are otherwise employed, and chuse to contribute out of their Stock for paying their Defenders, rather than leave their Affairs to be neglected in their Absence. The Art of making Soldiery a Trade, and keeping Armies in Pay, seems in Europe to have had two Originals. The First was Usurpation, when popular Men destroyed the Liberties of their Country and seized the Power into their own Hands, which they were forced to maintain by hiring Guards to bridle the People. Such were anciently the Tyrants in most of the small States of Greece; and such were those in several Parts of Italy, about three or four Centuries ago, as Machiavel informs us.3 The other Original of mercenary Armies, seems to have risen from larger Kingdoms or Commonwealths, which had subdued Provinces at a Distance, and were forced to maintain Troops upon them, to prevent Insurrections from the Natives: Of this Sort were Macedon, Carthage and Rome of old; Venice and Holland at this Day; as well as most Kingdoms of Europe. So that mercenary Forces in a free State, whether Monarchy or Commonwealth, seem only necessary, either for preserving their Conquests (which in such Governments it is not prudent to extend too far) or else for maintaining a War at a Distance.
IN this last, which at present is our most important Case, there are certain Maxims that all wise Governments have observed.
THE first I shall mention is, That no private Man should have a Commission to be General for Life, let his Merit and Services be ever so great.4 Or, if a Prince be unadvisedly brought to offer such a Commission in one Hand, let him (to save Time and Blood) deliver up his Crown with the other. The Romans, in the Height and Perfection of their Government, usually sent out one of the new Consuls to be General against their most formidable Enemy, and recalled the old one, who often returned before the next Election; and according as he had Merit, was sent to command in some other Part; which, perhaps, was continued to him for a second, and sometimes a third Year. But if Paulus Æmilius, or Scipio himself,5 had presumed to move the Senate to continue their Commissions for Life, they certainly would have fallen a Sacrifice to the Jealousy of the People. Cæsar indeed (between whom and a certain General, some of late with much Discretion have made a Parallel) had his Command in Gaul continued to him for five Years, and was afterwards made perpetual Dictator; that is to say, General for Life, which gave him the Power and the Will of utterly destroying the Roman Liberty.6 But in his Time the Romans were very much degenerated; and great Corruptions had crept into their Morals and Discipline. However, we see there still were some Remains of a noble Spirit among them: For, when Cæsar sent to be chosen Consul, notwithstanding his Absence, they decreed he should come in Person, give up his Command, and petere more majorum.7
IT is not impossible but a General may desire such a Commission out of Inadvertency, at the Instigation of his Friends; or, perhaps of his Enemies; or, meerly for the Benefit and Honour of it, without intending any such dreadful Consequences; and in that Case, a wise Prince or State may barely refuse it without shewing any Marks of their Displeasure. But the Request in its own Nature is highly Criminal, and ought to be entered so upon Record, to terrify Others in Time to come from venturing to make it.
ANOTHER Maxim to be observed by a free State engaged in War, is to keep the Military Power in absolute Subjection to the Civil, nor ever suffer the former to influence or interfere with the latter. A General and his Army are Servants, hired by the Civil Power to act as they are directed from thence, and with a Commission large or limited as the Administration shall think fit; for which they are largely paid in Profit and Honour. The whole System by which Armies are governed, is quite alien from the peaceful Institutions of States at home; and if the Rewards be so inviting as to tempt a Senator to take a Post in the Army, whilst he is there on his Duty, he ought to consider himself in no other Capacity. I know not any Sort of Men so apt as Soldiers are, to reprimand those who presume to interfere in what relates to their Trade. When they hear any of us in a Coffee House wondring that such a Victory was not pursued; complaining that such a Town cost more Men and Money than it was worth to take it; or that such an Opportunity was lost, of fighting the Enemy; they presently reprove us, and often with Justice enough, for meddling in Matters out of our Sphere; and clearly convince us in Terms of Art that none of us understand. Nor do we escape so; for they reflect with the utmost Contempt on our Ignorance, that we who sit at home in Ease and Security, never stirring from our Fire-sides, should pretend from Books, and general Reason, to argue upon Military Affairs; which after all, if we may judge from the Share of Intellectuals in some who are said to excel that Way, is not so very profound or difficult a Science. But, if there be any Weight in what they offer, as perhaps there may be a great deal; surely these Gentlemen have a much weaker Pretence to concern themselves in Matters of the Cabinet, which are always either far above, or much beside their Capacities. Soldiers may as well pretend to prescribe Rules for Trade; to determine Points in Philosophy; to be Moderators in an Assembly of Divines; or direct in a Court of Justice; as to misplace their Talent in examining Affairs of State, especially in what relates to the Choice of Ministers, who are never so likely to be ill chosen as when approved by them. It would be endless to shew how pernicious all Steps of this Nature have been in many Parts and Ages of the World. I shall only produce two at present, one in Rome, and the other in England. The first is of Cæsar, when he came to the City with his Soldiers to settle the Ministry, there was an End of their Liberty for ever. The second was in the great Rebellion against King Charles the First. The King and both Houses were agreed upon the Terms of a Peace; but the Officers of the Army, (as Ludlow relates it) set a Guard upon the House of Commons, took a List out of the Members, and kept all by Force out of the House, except those who were for bringing the King to a Trial.8 Some Years after, when they erected a Military Government and ruled the Island by Major-Generals,9 we received most admirable Instances of their Skill in Politicks. To say the Truth, such formidable Sticklers can have but two Reasons for desiring to interfere in the Administration; the first is that of Cæsar and Cromwell, of which, God forbid I should accuse or suspect any Body; since the second is pernicious enough, and that is, To preserve those in Power who are for perpetuating a War, rather than see others advanced who, they are sure, will use all proper Means to promote a safe and honourable Peace.
THIRDLY, Since it is observed of Armies, that in the present Age they are brought to some Degree of Humanity, and a more regular Demeanor to each other, and to the World, than in former Times: It is certainly a good Maxim to endeavour preserving this Temper among them; without which, they would soon degenerate into Savages. To this End it would be prudent, among other Things, to forbid that detestable Custom of drinking to the Damnation or Confusion of any Person whatsoever.
SUCH desperate Acts, and the Opinions infused along with them, into Heads already inflamed by Youth and Wine, are enough to scatter Madness and Sedition through a whole Camp. So seldom upon their Knees to Pray, and so often to Curse! This is not properly Atheism, but a Sort of Anti-Religion prescribed by the Devil, and which an Atheist of common Sense would scorn as an Absurdity. I have heard it mentioned as a common Practice last Autumn, somewhere or other, to drink Damnation and Confusion (and this with Circumstances very aggravating and horrid) to the New Ministry, and to those who had any Hand in turning out the Old; that is to say, to those Persons whom her Majesty has thought fit to employ in her greatest Affairs; with something more than a Glance against the Queen herself.10 And if it be true, that these Orgyes were attended with certain doubtful Words, of standing by their General, who without Question abhorred them: Let any Man consider the Consequence of such Dispositions, if they should happen to spread. I could only wish, for the Honour of the Army, as well as of the Queen and Ministry, that a Remedy had been applied to the Disease, in the Place and Time where it grew. If Men of such Principles were able to propagate them in a Camp, and were sure of a General for Life, who had any Tincture of Ambition, we might soon bid farewel to Ministries and Parliaments, whether new or old.
I AM only sorry such an Accident hath happened towards the Close of a War, when it is chiefly the Interest of those Gentlemen who have Posts in the Army, to behave themselves in such a Manner as might encourage the Legislature to make some Provision for them, when there will be no further need of their Service. They are to consider themselves as Persons, by their Educations, unqualified for many other Stations of Life. Their Fortunes will not suffer them to retain to a Party after its Fall; nor have they Weight or Abilities to help towards its Resurrection. Their future Dependence is wholly upon the Prince and Parliament, to which they will never make their Way by solemn Execrations of the Ministry; a Ministry of the Queen’s own Election, and fully answering the Wishes of her People. This unhappy Step in some of their Brethren, may pass for an uncontroulable Argument, that Politicks are not their Business or their Element. The Fortune of War hath raised several Persons up to swelling Titles, and great Commands over Numbers of Men, which they are too apt to transfer along with them into Civil Life, and appear in all Companies as if they were at the Head of their Regiments, with a Sort of Deportment that ought to have been dropt behind, in that short Passage to Harwich.11 It puts me in Mind of a Dialogue in Lucian,12 where Charon, wafting one of their Predecessors over Styx, ordered him to strip off his Armour and fine Cloaths, yet still thought him too heavy; but, said he, put off likewise that Pride and Presumption; those high swelling Words, and that vain Glory; because they were of no Use on the other Side [of] the Water. Thus, if all that Array of Military Grandeur were confined to the proper Scene, it would be much more for the Interest of the Owners, and less offensive to their Fellow Subjects.